Part of the excitement of Christmas is wondering what's inside the package under the tree. Without wrapping paper there would be no mystery.

In the past colorful tissue or plain brown paper was used as gift wrap, but that changed in 1917 when stores ran out of tissue paper and Hallmark offered patterned envelope liner sheets as a substitute. Stores quickly sold out of the patterned sheets and the gift wrapping industry was born.

While the first wrapping paper sold for 10 cents a sheet, today wrapping paper can be a major holiday expense.

Many people don't need large quantities of paper. Others don't want to spend more on the wrapping paper, that will be tossed away, than they do on the gift inside. If you only have a few special gifts to give and would rather not invest in large rolls of paper, then you can print your own free gift wrap using patterns available online.

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Free Printable Gift Wrap

HP
Wrapping paper, gift bags, boxes and matching tags and cards are included in most of these wrapping sets.
Christmas Lights
Christmas Tree
Snowman
Dove
Star
Children's Christmas
Cars and Trucks
Cookies
Holiday Gift Box
Snowflake Gift Box
Toy Soldier Gift Box
Plaid Gift Box
Bah-Humbug Gift Box
Holiday Blossom Gift Box
Holiday Memories Gift Card Holder
Snowflake Gift Box 2
Numbered Gift Boxes

All Things Christmas
Give Christmas an old fashion flavor with these Victorian themed wrapping papers.
Elegant Gift Wrap
Christmas Lights Gift Wrap
Christmas Tree Gift Warp
Santa Gift Warp

Martha Stewart
Use legal size paper (11 x 17) to print these original designs offered by Martha Stewart and Blueprint. Give your gifts classic, retro and elgant flavor with these simple black and white designs.
Swirly Design
Striped Design
Fancy Cummerbund Design

Activity Village
If you like scrap booking, then these pages can do double duty.
Christmas Presents
Snowmen
Santa
Red Stripe
Holly
Small Holly

Family Shopping Bag
Fun colorful gift wrap that will appeal to the young or just the young at heart.
Santa Angels, Mice, pine cones
Gingerbread and Elves
Reindeer, Santa & Elves

XEROX
Christmas Ball
Present with Ribbon
Pointsettia
Holiday Stripes

Cannon Creative Park
Give your gift a personal touch with a hand made gift box. These small boxes will take a little time to assemble, but will provide lovely results. Here are six Christmas patterns:
Christmas Tree
Red Box
Red Christmas Star
Gold Christmas Star
Christmas Stocking Box
Candy Cane Striped Box
Chinese Box

Packagetech.com
Templates to help you create your own small, decorative gift box with matching labels for every occasion.